Time rewinds to just before dawn.
After meeting Naruto, Kaede instantly returned to the Uchiha elders.
By now, they had already arrived at the border of the Land of Fire.
Not far from them stood the Valley of the End—the site of the legendary battle between Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.
Here, the Uchiha quickly went into hiding.
With supplies Kaede had prepared ahead of time in scrolls, they had enough to last for a whole month.
"Kaede, you should be the clan leader!"
Inside the meeting chamber, the great elder looked seriously at Kaede.
Everyone present, all trusted members of the clan, shared the same expectant gaze.
They had witnessed Kaede's strength. To them, he was already the hope of the Uchiha's revival.
"I will carry the responsibility well," Kaede nodded with a calm smile.
He certainly had no reason to refuse. At this point, no one else but him was qualified to lead the clan.
The elder's face lit up with joy.
He quickly followed up, "So what do we do next?"
Kaede, of course, already had a plan.
"Let's lie low and stay hidden here for a few days."
"I have one more thing to take care of. After I'm done…"
Kaede's voice turned cold. "Our target is the Land of Waterfalls. We'll take Takigakure!"
"It houses the Seven-Tails, has excellent geography."
"It borders the Fire and Earth countries, and several smaller nations, but unlike the Land of Grass, it's not a hotspot for war."
"Once we're ready, we can bring back the glory of the Uchiha across the shinobi world!"
Iron Country and the Land of Grass nearby were no threat. The only concerns were the Fire and Earth countries.
But Konoha had already been struck hard and wouldn't have the capacity to deal with him anytime soon.
As for Onoki of Iwagakure—he was an old fox who calculated everything.
There was no way he hadn't realized Kaede possessed space-time dojutsu.
Which meant he wouldn't dare to start a war unless Kaede was dead.
And with the Mangekyō at his disposal, the Seven-Tails of Takigakure would become nothing more than his plaything.
Another trump card for the Uchiha.
After hearing Kaede's explanation, the clan's fighting spirit ignited.
Last night's battle had awakened the Uchiha blood in them.
Those who had made it here were all the elite of the elite.
It wouldn't be long before the Uchiha once again shined like they had during the Warring States era.
After giving a few more instructions, Kaede stayed behind in the cave alone.
Whoosh!
Two figures appeared instantly. They handed Kaede two scrolls before disappearing into smoke with a puff.
They were Kaede's shadow clones.
And what they had just handed him were none other than the Scroll of Seals and classified medical ninjutsu data from Konoha.
Before Konoha's destruction, Kaede had already sent his clones to retrieve these two items.
Hiruzen and the others were probably still mourning the loss of that knowledge.
Kaede murmured, "The Scroll of Seals… there are some fun jutsu in here."
"As for the medical ninjutsu scroll… I'll hand that over to the elder once we take Takigakure."
But tonight's rewards weren't limited to that.
"System, submit mission completion."
[Uchiha Clan Massacre Event: Host chose Option Three]
[Calculating rewards...]
[Congratulations! Rewards received: Mangekyō Sharingan chakra output doubled, Perfect Sage Mode, Strengthened God Tree Sapling]
"???!!!"
Kaede's eyes widened in shock.
Did he hear that right?
A God Tree sapling?
Without any hesitation, Kaede pulled it out immediately.
A small green sapling, glowing with vibrant green light, appeared in his hands.
[Item: Strengthened God Tree Sapling]
Effect 1: Absorbs natural energy to grow. Once mature, it can continuously produce new saplings. These new saplings feed energy back to the mother tree.
Effect 2: Enhances the host's bloodline power with no upper limit.
Effect 3: Sitting near it will enhance the Uchiha clan members' bloodline power, up to one tier below the host.
Effect 4: Any clan member strengthened by it will be eternally loyal to the host, and the host may draw upon their power.
Effect 5: ...
In an instant, Kaede absorbed all the details of the sapling's abilities.
He couldn't help but marvel, "What a terrifyingly powerful reward…"
With this sapling, even without fusing the Hōgyoku, his Mangekyō could continue to evolve—and the Rinnegan would only be the beginning.
More importantly, it could enhance the strength of his entire clan.
Kaede thought for a moment—wasn't this setting him up to lead the Uchiha on the same path as the Ōtsutsuki?
The Uchiha's ambitions had just expanded from the shinobi world… to the entire universe.
"I'll need to strategize well. The sooner it matures, the better."
Kaede stored the sapling into his system space, then claimed the reward for doubling his Mangekyō chakra output.
Instantly, a cool sensation surged into his eyes.
The aching fatigue from last night's intense battle vanished completely.
Once the absorption was complete, Kaede could clearly feel that his Susanoo was now close to reaching its Perfect Form.
"And then there's these three Mangekyō…"
Kaede didn't hesitate. He pulled out Fugaku's Mangekyō and Obito's right eye.
Activating his dojutsu, the chakra from all three Mangekyō began pouring into his own eyes.
A surge of chakra equal to the reward he had just received flooded in once more.
Quantity became quality—his previously stiff Mangekyō began to feel more fluid, alive.
The chakra kept flowing like a spring that had just tapped into an underground reservoir.
Self-replenishing chakra… the Eternal Mangekyō!
On top of that, Kaede successfully obtained all three of their Mangekyō abilities:
"Kamui, Amaterasu… and another genjutsu…"
Kaede opened his eyes again.
"Tonight was indeed a harvest."
"Once I get used to these Eternal Mangekyō powers, this game is going to get a lot more fun."
Then Kaede took out the Hōgyoku.
He hadn't forgotten to absorb souls from all those who died in Konoha last night.
Looking at the orb, Kaede whispered, "It must feel unfair to be used like this…"
But then he thought of the Sage of Six Paths… and those few Ōtsutsuki.
With the plot now so heavily altered, Kaede couldn't be sure they wouldn't appear earlier than expected.
If they arrived fast enough, he might even have to fuse with the Hōgyoku himself one day.
Not long after, Kaede was once again surrounded by a bright blue light.
This time, the glow was stronger than ever—so intense it burst through the cave and shone across the landscape.
The Uchiha clan members looked up toward the mountainside in awe.
Someone muttered, "Kaede again… he's getting even stronger."
After all the battles they had seen him fight, they were starting to guess Kaede had a unique ability to endlessly surpass his limits.
Still, they attributed it to the power of his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Which only made their desire grow stronger.
They too longed to wield the kind of power that could change the battlefield alone.
…
Meanwhile, everything that had occurred in Konoha that night had already been relayed to the other shinobi villages by their spies.
The Uchiha had defected?
The entire village had been destroyed by a man-made catastrophe?
The Third Hokage's reputation was in ruins?
Konoha's military strength had plummeted?
All across the shinobi world, chaos began to stir!
(End of Chapter)
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